Live updates: Donald Trump arraignment
Here is how the day unfolded for the former US President:
Barricades, blankets and pizza boxes
Many eager spectators, including members of the news media, lined up overnight in anticipation of gaining a seat inside the courtroom or catching a glimpse of former President Trump, who was expected to arrive on Tuesday afternoon. The building was heavily secured with barricades, and individuals went through multiple layers of security checks. Reporters waiting in line set up camp under tents with lawn chairs, blankets, and pizza boxes.
Pro and anti-trump supports rally
On Tuesday morning, crowds started to gather at a park outside the courthouse where former President Donald Trump was set to be arraigned. Along with Trump supporters, there were also some anti-Trump protesters who unfurled a sizable banner that read ‘Trump Lies All the Time’.
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg arrives in court
Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg made his way to the courthouse on Tuesday morning in New York in preparation for former President Donald Trump’s arraignment. Bragg, who became Manhattan’s first Black district attorney in 2022 after winning the election the previous November, inherited a long-standing grand jury investigation into the hush money paid on Trump’s behalf during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump arrives at Manhattan court
Donald Trump entered the courthouse surrounded by Secret Service agents. Trump’s motorcade traveled from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, tracked by numerous helicopters.
Trump reached the 15th floor courtroom about 70 minutes after he entered the courthouse to surrender and be booked ahead of the hearing.
Trump did not acknowledge a television camera sending live images from the hallway outside the courtroom.
Trump pleads ‘not guilty’ to 34 felony counts
Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
As is customary for a defendant, Trump rarely spoke during the proceedings, but when he did it was loud and clear: ‘Not guilty’
He denies all 34 counts against him, felony charges related to hush money payments including over an alleged tryst with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The charges stem from a hush-money payment during the 2016 campaign.
Photos from the courtroom showed Trump sitting at the table reserved for defendants and their attorneys. His legal team surrounded him, two seated on each side of the former president.
Trump leaned forward slightly, his shoulders rounded, but he didn’t turn his face away from photographers given permission to be in the courtroom just before the hearing.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing: “He is absolutely frustrated, upset and believes that there is a great injustice happening in this courtroom today.”
Judge warns Trump to avoid inflaming rhetoric
Trump told Judge Juan Merchan that he pleaded not guilty, and the judge advised him of his rights.
Merchan also warned Trump that he could be removed from the courtroom if he is disruptive, but Trump spoke only a few times to respond to questions.
He’s next due in court in December. Trump’s lawyers asked for him to be excused from attending the hearing in person because of extraordinary security precautions.
The judge said he was not imposing a gag order at this point, but he asked both sides to refrain from comments that could lead to civil unrest.
Trump stayed mostly still with his hands steepled or interlaced and looked ahead during the proceedings, which lasted just under an hour.
Trump leaves the court
Next, Trump left the Manhattan courthouse after his arraignment on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Trump did not answer a reporter’s shouted question about the charges as he quickly left the courtroom where the hearing was held.
Trump spent about two hours inside the building for booking and the arraignment where he learned the details of the criminal charges he faces while running a third presidential campaign.
Trump returns to Florida
In a social media post from his plane on his flight home from New York, Trump said that Tuesday’s court hearing “was shocking to many in that they had no ‘surprises,’ and therefore, no case. Virtually every legal pundit has said that there is no case here. There was nothing done illegally!”
US is going to hell: Trump
“WITCH HUNT, as our once great Country is going to HELL!” Trump posted on social media right before he left Florida.
Flanked by American flags, Trump delivered a campaign-style speech to cheering supporters at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday night.
Trump was defiant, referring, among other things, to his two impeachment trials during his presidency and an ongoing probe into alleged attempts to interfere in that state’s 2020 presidential election. He called the New York indictment the latest in an ‘onslaught of fraudulent investigations’.
“I never thought anything like this could happen in America — never thought it could happen,” Trump told an audience of several hundred donors, political allies and other supporters after returning to Mar-a-Lago, his beachfront mansion in southern Florida.
“The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it … It’s an insult to our country.”
“This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately,” Trump said.
He also lashed out at the prosecutor and the judge presiding over the New York case — despite being warned hours earlier by the judge to refrain from rhetoric that could cause civil unrest.
Trump waved goodbye as he made his way out of the ballroom thronged by people recording the moment with their smartphones.
The crowd included supporters like failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and longtime ally Roger Stone.
Some FAQs on Trump’s reckoning in court
What happened after Trump’s surrender?
Trump was booked.
Before computers, information on every criminal suspect would be written down in a big book kept by court officials. Now, it’s all computerized, but the process is largely the same.
Court officers take down the accused’s full name, age, birthdate, height and weight. They check for any outstanding warrants. They were expected to have taken Trump’s fingerprints but were not believed to have taken a mug shot.
In New York, this process usually takes about two hours, but can be as long as four. But no one else was getting processed when Trump arrived, so it was faster. Then he went before a judge.
What happened in the hearing?
Prosecutors raised concerns about what they said were irresponsible social media posts they said targeted people in the case, including grand jury witnesses and District Attorney Alvin Bragg. They specifically pointed to posts Trump made that warned of “potential death and destruction” if he were to be indicted.
The judge said he was not imposing a gag order at this point but asked both sides to refrain from making comments or engaging in comments that could lead to civil unrest.
Trump spoke briefly. He told the judge he was pleading ‘not guilty’ to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and he was advised of his rights. Trump stayed mostly still, his hands steepled or interlaced, and looked ahead during the proceedings that lasted just over an hour.
Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche said during the hearing: “He is absolutely frustrated, upset and believes that there is a great injustice happening in this courtroom today.”
Was Trump arrested?
Technically, yes.
When someone is fingerprinted and processed, that person is considered to be under arrest and in custody. But for Trump, it didn’t look like what it does in the movies or on TV’s ‘Law & Order’.
He wasn’t handcuffed and he didn’t sit in a jail cell. That’s in part because some of the courthouse was cleared out for his arraignment and because Trump is a former president with Secret Service protection. Not all defendants are handcuffed before they appear before a judge for an arraignment, though some are.
Did Trump walk out of here?
Yes. Trump did not say anything as he exited the courtroom, ignoring reporters.
What happens next?
Trump is next due in court in December. His lawyers asked for him to be excused from attending the hearing in person because of the extraordinary security measures.
(With inputs from agencies)